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Tether’s game plan in El Salvador: Why invest in Volcano Energy?

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Stablecoin issuer Tether has dipped into its war chest to invest in El Salvador’s $1 billion renewable energy project to help drive Bitcoin adoption in the Central American nation.

The Tether issuer is one of a handful of companies investing in El Salvador’s renewable power generation project. Volcano Energy is set to generate electricity from solar and wind energy in El Salvador to power future Bitcoin mining operations in the country.

The planned 241-megawatt (MW) renewable energy park is the latest move in El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption drive after the country made BTC legal tender back in 2021.

Cointelegraph caught up with Tether’s chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino during Money 20/20 in Amsterdam. Ardoino — who is attending the renowned finance and payments convention promoting Bitfinex Pay and the Lightning Network — delved into several topics concerning Tether, Bitfinex and the wider cryptocurrency space.

Just two days before the interview, Tether announced it would be investing in Volcano Energy to gain exposure to energy production and leverage the facility to power Bitcoin mining farms in the future.

There is also an ideological element to the move, with Ardoino stressing his belief that El Salvador is blazing a trail for sovereign Bitcoin adoption despite the relatively slow uptake of BTC as a payment option in the country.

Ardoino drew parallels to the European Union adopting the euro as a continental currency in the early 2000s, which required significant resources to change existing financial infrastructure, as well as buy-in from citizens of its 27 member states.

“Given all the powers that they had, it still took five, six years, and yet people were super confused.”

The proliferation of Bitcoin as a payment method in El Salvador has had some teething problems, as explored by Cointelegraph journalist Joe Hall in a recent visit to the country using BTC as a primary means of payment.

Ardoino contends that the path to widespread BTC use and adoption in El Salvador will take time, considering that citizens are not being forced to use the alternative currency in their everyday lives:

“It’s extremely unfair to expect that the whole population will use Bitcoin because, first of all, it’s not forced. Adoption is through private companies and public investments, rather than being taxpayer money.”

Tether’s investment in the country’s energy production program is part of a two-fold strategy. Firstly, investing in energy-producing infrastructure holds its own value, which can then be utilized to power Bitcoin mining operations.

Ardoino also argued against the prevailing narratives around the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining and critiques of the industry for putting a strain on the global energy grid:

“Firstly, the majority of Bitcoin mining is already happening with renewable energy. Secondly, Bitcoin mining is mainly using excess energy anyway, but even more so if we first build the energy production.”

Ardoino said Tether’s investment alongside a group of 12 investors aims to build an energy production facility that companies, factories and households can also tap into. The excess energy from Volcano Energy will be used for BTC mining to help make El Salvador a “unicorn with its own unique story.”

Cryptocurrency

UFC Legend Conor McGregor Wants a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve in Ireland

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Conor McGregor, the 36-year-old UFC legend with 22 wins and 6 losses, has urged his homeland to become a crypto hub by implementing a digital asset reserve.

He asserted that crypto in its origin was “founded to give power back to the people,” and noted that he will co-host a Twitter (X) space to “talk about what I want to see changed.”

While he spoke about both crypto and Bitcoin in terms of Irish reserve, many of the comments below his original post urged him and his country to focus only on the largest digital asset.

Anthony Pompliano was among the first to pick up McGregor’s call for a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve in Ireland and, expectedly, praised the move.

The notion of countries adopting BTC as a strategic reserve asset has been talked about for years within the community. However, it was just a distant dream until very recently.

The idea is that bitcoin has similar qualities like gold, and the yellow metal used to back numerous fiat currencies and is still held en mass by numerous central banks. So, why not BTC, right?

Well, the critics have argued for the past few years that bitcoin is too young and volatile and hasn’t matured yet to be in such a responsible position. After the US elections, though, the tides have turned.

Current US President Donald Trump has dabbled with the idea of establishing a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve in the country, and there are multiple discussions on the matter among different countries. Although it still feels too early, as most are just that – discussions or blatant rejections – it could be considered as a move in the right direction. It has to start from somewhere, right?

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Ripple’s Price Underperforms, But Here’s Some Really Good News for XRP

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TL;DR

  • Ripple Labs received some good news this past week from the SEC, but the native token hasn’t really picked up the pace, unlike many of its rivals.
  • Now, though, analysts tend to believe that the asset is due for some big gains.

The broader crypto market was revived in the past week as bitcoin finally broke above $100,000 and tapped a new multi-month peak at over $104,000. Many altcoins, such as DOGE, SOL, and HYPE, posted impressive gains, and so did ETH. In fact, Ethereum’s weekly increase stands at over 31%.

At the same time, XRP is also in the green, of course, but its weekly surge stands at just over 9%. On a monthly scale, it has added 21% (impressive, yes) but nowhere near as notable as ETH’s 54% surge or even BTC’s 28% jump.

What’s even more surprising is that the SEC officially filed for a settlement in the legal case against Ripple Labs and wants just a $50 million penalty payment, which is a fraction of the $2 billion it initially asked for.

Nevertheless, XRP still managed to break through an important resistance set at $2.26 and closed well above it on the daily. The short-term target for the asset is at $2.6, said Ali Martinez, who posted an update today with even more good news for XRP’s future price performance.

The analyst with over 137,000 followers on X said the SuperTrend Indicator had just flashed a buy signal for XRP.

Chad Steingraber found some similarities between the current market structure and the events that transpired in January. At the time, XRP’s Open Interest soared to almost $5 billion, and its price skyrocketed from $2.3 to roughly $3.4 within a week. Now, the Open Interest is close to those levels.

BitGuru noted that XRP had broken out of a double bottom and is “riding a strong uptrend with higher highs.” If it manages to stay above $2.23, which is far below the current price tag of $2.4, it could experience another bullish leg up, they added.

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DOGE Explodes by 35% in 2 days But Is That Just the Start?

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TL;DR

  • Meme coin season seems to be returning as numerous representatives of that niche have recorded massive gains, including their leader.
  • DOGE’s price has soared by double-digit on a daily, weekly, and monthly scale, but analysts seem to be aligned in thinking that this is just the start.

Recall that DOGE’s price had tumbled to a multi-month low of $0.13 just several weeks back, during the darkest hours of the Trade War between the US and essentially the rest of the world. As the global macro conditions improved, though, so did the crypto market, and Dogecoin has been among the frontrunners of gains.

Fast forward to May 8, the OG meme coin’s price stood at around $0.17. In just a short 48-hour period, its price skyrocketed by 35% to its highest levels since early March of $0.23.

Popular crypto analysts quickly picked up the move and outlined even more bullish price targets for the largest meme coin. Ali Martinez was among the more modest ones, envisioning a price surge to $0.27 as DOGE has rebounded “strongly from its ascending support trendline.”

Satoshi Flipper was even more bullish, indicating that DOGE’s price against the dollar is “ripping” and their chart predicts a price surge toward $0.4.

Cephii told their almost 80,000 followers on X that Dogecoin will have a new floor price because of the ETFs that they believe have a “high likelihood of being approved.” They advised people to hold and continue buying if the price slips to $0.19 once again.

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